Denmark’s Riis Wins Shortened Leg to Take Lead

Denmark’s Bjarne Riis took the overall lead in the Tour de France on Monday, winning the ninth leg, which was shortened from 117.7 miles to 28 miles because of winter conditions in the French Alps.

“It was cold out there, but I’m happy,” said Riis, who leads Russia’s Yevgeny Berzin by 40 seconds. “I’m always strong when it’s warm, but I’m happy the way things turned out in the cold weather.”

Riis made a long solo breakaway and won by about 24 seconds over France’s Luc Leblanc. Berzin finished 14th, 1:23 behind Riis.

The ninth stage originally was scheduled to go from Val d’Isere to Sestriere, a grueling trip, but because of snow, organizers switched the start to only 28 miles from this Italian resort. So riders made most of the trek from Val d’Isere in team cars behind a snowplow.

“The decision was a good one. We don’t want to race in conditions like this, it’s dangerous,” said Switzerland’s Tony Rominger, fourth on the day and third overall.

Race director Jean-Marie Leblanc said, “It’s a shame for the climbers. But we have to do this for the safety of the riders.”

Five-time defending champion Miguel Indurain doesn’t like racing in cold weather, but he led a charge in the final half Monday to end up fifth, 28 seconds behind Riis. The Spanish star is eighth overall, 4:38 back.

Unseasonably rainy and cold weather has hampered the 21-stage race since the start.